Sales of the Chevrolet Volt extended range electric vehicle have been very much up and down since the car launched. At one point Chevrolet placed production of the Volt on hold due to poor demand only to restart production earlier than expected due to an uptick in sales. At the same time, sales of the pure electric-powered Nissan Leaf have continued to struggle as it becomes clear Nissan will be unable to meet its lofty sales goals for 2012.

Nissan had expected to sell 20,000 electric vehicles in the U.S. during 2012 and has so far only been able to sell 3,543. During the month of July, Nissan sold just 395 Leaf EVs, which represents a decline of 58% compared to July 2011.

Nissan Leaf

Although Nissan isn't selling very many Leaf EVs, the automaker still insists it will meet its 20,000-unit goal for 2012. That goal seems very unlikely since Nissan will need to sell close to 3,300 Leaf EVs each month for the remainder of the year.

"Our target has not changed," said Nissan spokesman David Reuter on Wednesday, acknowledging that, "sales to date have not met our expectations."

Chevrolet Volt

GM is faring better with its Volt with sales rising compared to July of 2011 to 1,849 units in July 2012 compared to only in 125 units in July 2011. Through the first first seven months of 2012, GM has sold 10,666 Volt extended range electric vehicles for an increase of 270% compared to the first seven months of 2011.

Detroit News reports that sales of the Volt have been boosted by factors outside of Chevrolet's control, including the fact that California granted lone Volt drivers the ability to access carpool lanes. One in every three Volts sold are purchased in California.

GM sold more than twice as many Volts in July as Toyota sold Prius plug-in hybrid vehicles. Toyota moved only 688 of the latest Prius variant during July.

"This is about the Internet. Everything on the Internet is encrypted. This is not a BlackBerry-only issue. If they can't deal with the Internet, they should shut it off." -- RIM co-CEO Michael Lazaridis